Staff Photo by Greg AdomaitisBridgeton City Council discussed a master plan for the city park at Tuesday night's meeting.

BRIDGETON — Rather than request proposals for a city park master plan, city council backed away from a resolution that would have gone forward with such an endeavor.

The idea of a master plan for the Bridgeton City Park stemmed from the proposed location of the much-debated splash pad and how the city would plot and prod their way through improving the park.

“The comprehensive-ness of that document was well beyond what we envisioned,” city council President Mike Zapolski said of the Request For Proposal (RFP) item discussed at Tuesday night’s city council meeting.

Also well beyond what they expected was the price of such a plan.

The RFP allocated $40,000. It was said a $250,000 bid for a park plan would have been more likely. The city does not have that kind of money nor does it want to expend that kind of money, some council members noted.

Other disconnects between council members and city administration became apparent as Tuesday’s work session pushed on. Whereas the planners produced an RFP in accordance with a bond ordinance for park improvements, council — who ultimately hold the purse strings — seemed to have had a different idea in mind all along.

As Councilman Bill Spence paraphrased Wednesday, those who fail to plan, plan to fail.“All we want to do is be part of the planning for the city park and make sure certain stake-holders are involved,” he said.

A committee comprised of city and other relevant officials, with assistance from a professional planner, could sit down to talk about what they want their park to look like.

One city administration member suggested the group included members of the public works and recreation departments, the business administrator, city council members, a professional planner, a member of the recreational committee and someone from the zoo or zoological society.

Spence suggested Wednesday why not someone from Bridgeton High School, too? The professional planner could be Barbara Fegley, senior vice president of Environmental Resolutions, who assisted in creating the city’s master plan.

“I want the most knowledgeable people ... because I trust their input,” Spence said.Business Administrator Dale Goodreau provided the RFP to pertinent council liaisons before the matter was discussed Tuesday night. Mayor Albert Kelly said Goodreau was acting in accordance with the “master plan” term as it appeared in the bond ordinance for park improvements.

That bond ordinance allocated monies for the splash pad, upgrades to the zoo and, per council’s recent request, a park master plan. The splash pad project is moving forward, however the plans had to be re-bid when the location was changed from the veterans park.

As it stands, the “master plan” term can remain in the bond ordinance but the way the city carries it out is likely to change. What’s more, any project over a threshold of $17,500 requires council approval and the park plan RFP would have likely solicited proposals above that figure.

“It’s all about transparency,” Kelly said of council members reviewing a document prepared by administration, adding that he wouldn’t want to slow down department heads from doing their jobs.

As division head of the county human services department, Councilman Jack Surrency noted micro-managing the minute details of similar financial projects tends to make things more difficult.

Spence said Wednesday that council does not desire sitting in on the drafting of every RFP but he’s glad he looked into similar park master plan projects on his own time.

“Before we go any further,” Spence said, “I just though we should have a plan of what the park should look like.”

Councilman Dennis Thompson took a look at the issue from a different perspective.

“Nothing really came to fruition” at the park during the first year council was seated, Thompson said. Who knows if Tuesday’s disagreements would have even gone on if it wasn’t for projects being suggested in the city park, he noted.

The withdrawn resolution noted the city park as a “key asset” for the city and that they seek to enhance it. According to the master plan addressing Bridgeton as a whole, Bridgeton should “maintain and improve the city park, which operates as a regional resource.”